The Book of Lyta and G'Kar
by Bearthsong
Summary: Lyta and G'Kar have been traveling the stars, exploring space beyond The Rim. Their journey is not just an outer experience, but also one of soul-healing and inner exploration. After the first year of their travels, however, the relationship between them begins to develop in ways that neither of them had fully anticipated...
1. Dance of the Serpent

7

 _ **The Book of Lyta and G'Kar**_

 _ **(A Fan-Fiction story based upon the T.V. series, "Babylon 5", created by J. Michael Straczynski)**_

 _ **Chapter One: Dance of the Serpent**_

It was never, ever intended to happen. For some strange reason known only to the Universe, however, it did. When the large reptilian marsupial known as Ambassador G'Kar of Narn began his journey to explore space beyond The Rim with the powerful Human telepath known as Lyta Alexander, they had departed on the voyage as platonic companions only.

Now, two years later, here they were with two pouchlings named Na'Tal and Byron Alexander—the only known Narn-Human hybrid children in existence. How it had happened, they had no idea. Humans and Narns could not reproduce without a significant amount of genetic tampering, but the couple had done nothing to move in this direction.

It was true that G'Kar had once propositioned Lyta to create a hybrid through direct mating, but that was only because he had not possessed enough understanding of xeno-biology at the time. He had naively assumed that they could create a Narn telepath simply through the act of lovemaking. After he had done a bit more research on the topic, he found that such a thing was virtually impossible. The only way that the Narns could breed their own telepaths was through gradually introducing telepath DNA into the Narn gene pool—and that would mean gradually introducing Human DNA into Narn physiology. G'Kar had been somewhat disturbed by that prospect eight years ago, when he had first accepted his post as Ambassador for the Narn Regime on the space station Babylon 5. He had therefore put the idea of creating Narn telepaths through Human DNA on the back burner. There had been too many other pressing concerns, such as the Narn-Centauri war, the Shadow War, and then the creation of the Interstellar Alliance under President John Sheridan.

After the Alliance had been created, G'Kar's priorities had changed. He had not even thought about creating Narn telepaths for the last few years of his post on Babylon 5...at least not until the fateful day that Lyta Alexander, the powerful "rogue" telepath who had once worked for the terrifying Vorlon species but who had helped Sheridan to defeat both the Vorlons and the Shadows during that terrible conflict, made an appointment with him to discuss his financing of five large ships so that other "rogue" telepaths could search for a new home-world. She hoped also to create a resistance towards the organization which had kept telepaths such as herself in a state of virtual slavery: the hated "Psi Corps". In exchange for his help, Lyta promised to supply him with a whole array of telepath DNA which could be used to help Narns create their own telepaths. After considerable thought and a quick test of Lyta's integrity, G'Kar finally agreed.

Later, the two of them had decided to embark on their own mission to explore space beyond The Rim...and maybe even help the Narn-supplied "telepath home-ships" to locate a suitable home-world for the telepaths. They had taken their own small explorer craft, named the _Na'Toth,_ and had since then been alone together in space for the past couple of years. It had perhaps been inevitable that they would at some time pursue an intimate relationship, in spite of the fact that they were from two vastly different species.

For a long while, however, G'Kar had kept himself from encouraging any kind of mating behavior between the two of them. Lyta had been badly treated by Earth, the Psi-Corps, the Vorlons, and even by Sheridan and his staff aboard Babylon 5. G'Kar had hoped to help Lyta heal her rage, just as he himself had learned to heal his own damaged soul. G'Kar was very scrupulous in his behavior towards the beautiful but angry Human female. He knew how much she had suffered, especially when she had lost her lover, a "rogue" telepath named Byron who had died in an attempt to lead the other telepaths to a new life away from the Psi Corps. Lyta hoped to continue her lost lover's work; but she had desperately needed to heal her own soul, and G'Kar had offered her a way to do that. She had been suspicious of his motives, at first. She had expected him to make a pass at her the moment they had cleared jump-gate, but that never happened. It was a full year before Lyta realized that G'Kar had indeed been trying to help her heal herself spiritually, just as he had told her before they left.

It was then that she began to become impatient with him, and frustrated.

"It's been a full year, G'Kar," she told him one day, as they were leaving the orbit of a friendly but already inhabited world, "Why have you never tried anything? Don't you find me attractive?"

"Of course I do," G'Kar had answered her, keeping his focus on the control panel, "That is why I have forced myself to abstain from becoming intimate with you. I would be most perturbed if I interfered with your healing process simply to gratify my own desires."

"Have you considered the possibility that maybe a sexual relationship between us would be part of that healing process?"

"I am a Narn, Lyta," G'Kar had replied sadly, "And you are a Human...and an extremely powerful telepath as well. You know my thoughts, and you know how base, how much like an animal I can be. Even with my recent spiritual transformation into a more civilized creature, I would still be considered a beast by your peers. I am also what you telepaths would call a 'mundane', am I not?"

"Mundane?" Lyta had echoed him, "Not you, G'Kar. You're anything but mundane, and you know it. Besides, 'mundane' is a term that was created by that dictatorial group of soul-assassins known as the 'Psi Corps'. I want nothing to do with any of that crap...until I return one day to destroy the Psi Corps, that is. The way they've used telepaths, and have controlled them...it's disgusting. No—I think I'm ready for a relationship with a Narn. If not a relationship, then...at least let's hop in the sack for a while. We can't be alone in space this long without ever having the courage to try it. Wouldn't you like to experience my endlessly expanding pleasure threshold?"

"Yes, I would," G'Kar admitted, ruefully remembering the day that he had first propositioned her, "But I can't promise that I could do it just once and be content with that. In a strange way, I have come to love you, Lyta...even though we have never made love. Perhaps we never should."

"G'Kar!" Lyta exclaimed, "You love me? You rascal, you! I suppose I should have figured that out from your thoughts, though."

"No, you don't understand, Lyta," G'Kar said to her, "I have come to love you, beyond the physical element—a physical element which I admit is most alluring. Our time together has been very special to me. But I know that I can never be the equal of your deceased lover, Byron. And I know that, once this voyage ends, you will leave me to lead your people in the Resistance against the Psi Corps...as you should. It is only natural."

"And what about you, G'Kar?" she asked him, "Will you leave me to join your people, when our voyage together ends?"

"I don't know," G'Kar mused wistfully, "When I left, they were practically worshipping me as a god over my spiritual book, the so-called Book of G'Kar. I never meant to supplant our holy prophet, G'Quan; but at the time that we left to go on our journey together, it was what seemed to be happening. My presence was a distraction for my people. They needed to forge their own way forward, not idolize me. As for me returning to Narn, it will depend on how the people have developed. Personally, I would prefer to serve Sheridan and the Alliance. I have come to share his values more than those of my own people. Some of my people no doubt think of me as a sell-out, but that is their particular delusion. I never want to go back to being what I was, Lyta; there is nothing darker than the hatred which enslaves our souls."

"Oh, there you go again, Mr. Deep Thinker," Lyta teased him, "You should write a sequel to The Book of G'Kar and call it: _The Book of Lyta and G'Kar_."

"Aha," G'Kar retorted wryly, "and not _The Book of G'Kar and Lyta?"_

"No, I think your male ego could do with my name being first."

"Or perhaps I should name it after one of your Earth stories: _The Beauty and the Beast?"_

"Are you saying that you find me beautiful, G'Kar?" Lyta asked him innocently.

"Well, it's certainly not me who would be the Beauty."

"The raging question here, G'Kar, is whether or not you are a B.I.B.?"

"And what is that, dear Lyta?"

"A 'Beast in Bed', dear G'Kar."

"Ohhhhh-rrr-kk!" G'Kar replied in a mock-offended fashion.

The conversation ended there, but neither of them forgot it. One day, when the ship was on auto-pilot and G'Kar was having a shower, Lyta decided to pay him a little visit. She and G'Kar had separate berths but shared the same shower facilities. Normally, she waited until he was finished before she went in, but on this day she decided that it was time to stop beating around the bush and be bold. She slipped off her pink housecoat and let it drop casually to the floor. She then opened up the door of the shower and walked in, to G'Kar's shocked astonishment.

He stood staring at her, the water running all over both of them. He did not say anything, but neither did he order her out of the stall. She put her arms around his spotted neck and gave him a kiss. He looked as if he had just been struck by lightning.

"Lyta," he murmured, "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes," she told him, "Quit worrying, you old Hotspot."

"I...I would not want to do anything to hurt you or to damage your healing process. I would be ashamed of myself if I did that."

"You won't," she reassured him, "I'm tougher than I look."

Slowly, G'Kar began to respond, unsheathing his claws and running them up and down her body. He uttered a sound which was like a cross between a groan and a hiss. They embraced each other, rubbing their faces together as two Narns might do. Lyta had often had an opportunity to watch Narn couples showing affection to one another on Babylon 5, and she knew that they did a lot of caressing and neck-weaving as a kind of ritual prelude to the sexual act. She had never seen the actual lovemaking, of course, so she would have to wing it if they managed to get that far. G'Kar nipped at her shoulder without breaking her skin. He was being very cautious, as he knew how fragile the Human nervous system could be when it came to pain. Lyta attempted to give him a shoulder-bite back, but his skin was too leathery.

"Ugh!" she muttered, "This is like kissing a crocodile."

"We can stop now if you would like," G'Kar offered, "If you do want to call this to a halt, now would be the time—don't do it when I'm uncurled with passion, for then it will be past the point of no return."

"Why don't we move into your berth so we don't run the shower dry?"

"Excellent idea," G'Kar replied, turning off the water and leading her into his small berth. As he led the way, his hand in hers, she could not help but chuckle at the lizard-like tail which was attached to his rear. It appeared to be smooth, and it ended in a thin, sharp spike.

Lyta lay down on his bed and he took his position beside her, running a claw down her body in a sly manner. From there, it became somewhat awkward as they attempted to vacillate between Human kissing and Narn nipping. G'Kar's tail wrapped itself around her leg, and Lyta could sense his thoughts becoming less intellectual and more instinctual, like the mind of an animal. The couple finally relaxed into an acceptable "kiss-and-head-weaving" rhythm, and G'Kar finally began the process of "uncurling his passion" as he referred to his tightly coiled masculine appendage. His tail rattled in excitement, sounding much like a Terran rattlesnake. Lyta could only hope that it was not filled with venom as she fell into this serpentine sexual dance.


	2. The Spirit of the Dust-Snake

2

 _ **Chapter Two: The Spirit of the Dust-Snake**_

 __Lyta and G'Kar lay together quietly on G'Kar's bed. Lyta's head was resting on G'Kar's chest, while the big Narn held his arms around her protectively.

"Well, G'Kar," Lyta murmured, "We finally did it. I can't quite believe it, can you?"

"It was somewhat surreal, like a dream," G'Kar agreed, "But what a dream! Now that I have opened up to the experience, however, I will doubtless not be content with just this one time...unless you forbid me, Lyta. I will always abide by your dictates regarding our...alliance, or whatever it is we want to call it."

"Let's call it the Narn-Human-telepath Alliance," she suggested, "and I'm up for another go whenever you want."

"I fear we have awakened the spirit of the Dust-Snake," G'Kar replied, "The Dust-Snake is a species of snake on Narn. It lies motionless in the dirt, camouflaged by the ground. The only time it will move is to hunt prey or mate. When it does either of these things, it springs up out of the dust to devour its unsuspecting prey or to lavish its attentions on the female, which has deliberately glided over its resting place."

"And which of these energies have we awakened? The devourer of prey or the lavish lover?"

"Perhaps both," G'Kar whispered, "You never can tell with a Narn and a Human telepath."

Lyta sighed, caressing his chest softly. She felt as if everything had changed between them, with this one act of passionate curiosity. It felt as though the Dust-Snake held them both in its fangs, but its grip was exhilarating.


	3. The Birth of the Pouchlings

8

 _ **Chapter Three: The Birth of the Pouchlings**_

When they looked back on their first days of lovemaking, Lyta and G'Kar could not quite fathom how it was that a Narn and a Human chose to come together in such an intimate way. Since that hallowed event, G'Kar had taken Lyta's advice and had begun to write " _The Book of Lyta and G'Kar_ ". It was coming to him as a combination of a love story, sex manual, and spiritual tome. As far as the writer was concerned, Lyta was the muse that inspired him to birth his words.

"You are the magic in my life," G'Kar said to her.

When Lyta told G'Kar that she was pregnant, he refused to believe her at first. This was even more surreal to him than the first act of love.

"This cannot be, Lyta!" He exclaimed when she showed him the results of her pregnancy test, "The Dust-Snake cannot have blessed us with pouchlings. By G'Quan, we must be going mad. Perhaps we have spent too long together in space. The stars can have an effect on a couple of foolish lovers..."

"G'Kar!" Lyta scolded him, "Can you please stop talking about Dust-Snakes, stars and G'Quan for just a moment and face the reality of what has happened? Now I don't know if one or both of the two Vorlon Ambassadors did something to me while I was working with them during the Shadow War, but...somehow, I've been able to conceive without any genetic meddling from either of us. I mean, I have been altered a lot in the past by the Vorlons because I'm a telepath...the artificial gills in my neck, for example."

"Yes, I had gill-implants put in me, as well, by the efforts of my own people," he told her, "But surely those have nothing to do with this strange conception! And what are we to do if you manage to birth this young one? We have no medical doctor to answer our questions. Will the pregnancy last for nine months, like a Human—or will it be only five months in your womb, with the next five spent inside my pouch, like a Narn?"

"I hope it's five months, like a Narn," she replied, "I'd like to see the guy doing half the heavy carrying for once."

As it turned out, Lyta got her wish. The five-month pregnancy was heavy, because she found out that she was carrying twins. Their mission at that point changed from exploring space to trying to find an inhabited world so that they could consult a physician. They were forced to re-trace their steps back to the friendly world that they had visited a number of months ago. It was inhabited by an ape-like species named the Roona.

The beleaguered couple sent a message to the beings asking if they could please spare a physician, and by the time they came into orbit around the Roona home-world a physician's ship was waiting for them. They transferred over to his special medical ship, which was so well-equipped that it was like a hospital in space.

The Physician, Healer Tooga, was a caramel-colored simian being who wore a long red robe. He insisted that Lyta and G'Kar dock their vessel and stay with him for the remainder of the pregnancy, so that he could monitor the two cross-species fetuses. They finally decided that it would be most prudent to obey the Healer's orders.

While they were waiting for the birth to occur, G'Kar fretted.

"Lyta, what have we done?" He asked her, "We have created not one but _two_ cross-species hybrids! The male Dust-Snake lays close to two-hundred eggs, but only half of those will survive. Can we expect these poor pouchlings to survive when they may exit your womb prematurely for a Human? Dr. Tooga does not know whether or not my pouch will be appropriate for them when they are born."

"G'Kar, stop worrying," Lyta snapped, "I hear your worries twice: once when you think them, and another time when you speak them aloud. What will be will be. And by the way, if only half of the Dust-Snake hatchlings survive, that's still one hundred snakes. Those are pretty good odds if you ask me."

"Another thing," G'Kar continued as if he had not heard her, "Will our children be telepaths? I am terrified of that possibility. How does one raise telepaths?"

"G'Kar, it's what you've always wanted. You _wanted_ to create Narn telepaths, and now you may have done just that! You may be the first Narn father of telepaths since the Shadows destroyed your peoples' telepath population thousands of years ago. Think of the possibilities!"

"I am," he replied, "and I am utterly terrified for our pouchlings. O, Universe, I can only cry for shame at my folly! Why did I not think of this when I first propositioned you many years ago, my Lyta? How selfish I was back then! Did I not think about the consequences that might fall upon _my_ _own children_ when I suggested such an insane plan? I was not using my overly-large head...oh, for shame on me that I did not!"

"Oh, stop berating yourself like a tragedian," Lyta told him, "Your head is the perfect size for a Narn. I hope our kids don't have heads that large, though...it will be murder trying to give birth to them if that's the case."

"Oh, I have been a very naughty Narn," G'Kar moaned, "And now the Universe is making me atone for it. May G'Quan see fit to send these poor infants into my waiting pouch in spite of all the dreadful things that I have done in my life!"

"G'Kar, are you going through some kind of hormonal change?" Lyta asked, "I've noticed that you've been very melodramatic lately. You sound like a Shakespearian actor in search of an anti-depressant."

"The Narn male body does produce a slightly different hormone when it anticipates the entry of infants into its pouch," G'Kar informed her, "The effect is that the male becomes less aggressive and more nurturing during the time period that he pouches the child—which could last for five to six months or up to a year."

"So you could be a Fretting Frieda for up to a year? Great."

Dr. Tooga entered their guest room and bowed to them.

"Ah, Blessed Strangers!" He greeted them through a translation device, "We are at your service as you await The Sacred Moment in your lives. I will listen to the hearts of the youngsters..."

Tooga took out a specialized stethoscope and placed it on Lyta's swelled belly. He listened for a full minute before straightening himself and proclaiming, "All is well, Blessed Parents! It could be any day now. When it occurs, the medical team will attend to you. If all goes as I believe it will, the pouchlings will need to develop further in the pouch of the father. G'Kar, as you will be carrying the infants for the second half of the term, I would like to examine your pouch. We have met members of your species in our deep-space travels, but we have never had an opportunity to examine one until now. Will you permit me?"

"Yes, of course," G'Kar replied, loosening the belt on his pants and lifting up his black shirt.

Tooga inserted a probe which allowed him to see the inside of G'Kar's pouch on a wall-screen. He stared at the screen with intense focus, and then pointed at two protrusions within the pouch.

"There they are!" the Healer exclaimed, "Amazing! These are for lactation. Your species is one of the few whose male members actually nurse its young within a pouch! If I go by the marsupial creatures that inhabit our world of Roona, I must conclude that the infants will attach themselves to these nipples and continue their development inside your pouch. An amazing example of an external life support system outside the womb! And yet, normally, all this would occur within the female body. This is so rare to find a male creature that is thus equipped...and yet, your species does not appear to be a mammalian one, but rather seems more reptilian. Ah, well, appearances can be most deceiving. I would have thought that you would be a monotreme, G'Kar, and lay eggs; and yet here you stand before me, a marsupial male with a pouch."

"Yes," G'Kar concurred, embarrassed by the Healer's fascination with his pouch, "When the pouchling exits after many months of development, the female then takes over lactation duties until the pouchling is approximately two years of age."

"That would explain why the Narn females that we met in our travels had breasts!" Tooga burst out joyously, as if he himself had discovered that he was to be a father, "What an amazing example of biological cooperation between male and female! I must write a paper on this topic and send it to my colleagues at the University. This will cause them to levitate in surprise!"

"But Healer Tooga," G'Kar interrupted his delight, "How do we know that the infants will behave as Narn infants do? They are, after all, half Human. What if they are born prematurely but cannot connect themselves to the pouch-nipples? Will they be capable of surviving?"

"I believe that they will attach to the nipples," Tooga reassured him, "They are also half Narn, G'Kar. Please do not fret, but rather calm yourself with thoughts of this amazing miracle of life. If by chance the infants fail to pouch according to Narn instincts, then we will put them in an incubator and extract Lyta's breast milk for them to feed on. The babies appear to be very healthy—all is going astonishingly well, Blessed Parents! When these two tiny beings are born, you will be walking amongst the stars in bliss! Oh, it takes me back to the day that I witnessed the birth of my dear children..."

Lyta looked at G'Kar and made a face. She was not quite as ebullient as the Healer, and neither was G'Kar. They both felt anxiety about the birth/pouching, but they expressed it differently. G'Kar continued to fret aloud, while Lyta would become irritable and tell him to stop.

Then, one day it finally happened. Lyta began to feel labor pains and called for G'Kar and Tooga. Tooga monitored the labor until it became obvious that the infants were on their way out. The Healer hastily summoned his medical team, which stood by with an incubator in case it was needed.

G'Kar held Lyta's hand as she pushed the tiny infants along her birth canal. Because they were not as large as fully developed Human infants, the birth was not quite as difficult as it would have been had the babies been fully Human. Still, it was a tremendous act of exertion to expel the two of them, and one of the nurses coached her as the children slowly emerged. Tooga's team sprung into action when the children were born, cleaning them and cutting the umbilical cords. They were put in the incubators for a period of time so that they could be monitored to determine their health and readiness to enter the pouch.

The couple stared at them in astonishment. They could not quite believe that the beings were here. They were hairless and underdeveloped, measuring around seventeen centimeters; and yet their spots were clearly visible. Their heads appeared to be slightly larger than a Human cranium and slightly smaller than that of a Narn.

"The perfect combination of Human and Narn attributes!" Tooga raved, "The features seem to be blended flawlessly. We will attempt to place one within your pouch now, G'Kar."

Tooga carefully lifted the female fetus first, depositing her gently into the pouch. The nurse had been busy setting up a small camera which was to monitor the little one's progress within the pouch. G'Kar was entranced by the sight of his daughter, and made comforting noises that sounded to Lyta like a combination of a dove's coo and a cat's purr. He murmured gently, "Na'Tal! Na'Tal!"

Lyta felt somewhat empty after the babies had been born. She longed to hold them, but also realized that they were not quite ready for that yet. She looked longingly at the male fetus that was still lying in the incubator; and she surprised herself by saying, "You are Byron."

" _What?"_ she thought, "How did I suddenly come up with that?"

"I _am_ Byron," a voice echoed her inside her head.

Lyta immediately dismissed the voice. Her head was playing tricks on her, and that was that. The pregnancy must have affected her mind. She could not believe that Byron's spirit would ever consent to being born as a half-Narn.

" _Why not_?" asked the voice again.

Lyta stared at the tiny boy in the incubator. Her concentration was interrupted by whooping simian cheers and chants from the medical team.

"The infant has attached herself to one of the nipples!" cried Tooga joyously, "Celebration! Continue to monitor her progress, Midwife Jookan!"

The team brought out "Byron" next. They were about to deposit him into the pouch, but Lyta felt that she needed to examine him more closely.

"Wait!" she called out, "May I hold him for just a minute before you put him inside?"

Midwife Jookan brought the child over to Lyta, who held him carefully within the palms of her hands. She looked into his half-open, pinkish-red eyes but could not see the soul of her lover. She was nonetheless filled with love at the sight of the...rather odd-looking little Narnlet. She handed the child over to Jookan reluctantly.

Little Byron was placed in G'Kar's pouch, where he would be monitored day and night along with his twin sister. It was now G'Kar's turn to carry the babies.


	4. A Roona Honeymoon

9

 _ **Chapter Four: A Roona Honeymoon**_

Lyta and G'Kar had been staying on the Roona home-world for the past two months. Healer Tooga had insisted that they stay with him in his spacious home by the Roon Mountains. The Roona home-world was lush and green. It had never been invaded, like the Narn home-world had been, because it was in a rather out-of-the-way location. The Roona people were relentlessly hospitable, offering G'Kar and Lyta their every wish and comfort.

G'Kar, in his blissful state of pouchly exo-pregnancy, was soaking it all up, like the rays of sunshine which shone upon this beautiful world.

"Oh, Lyta. My dear Lyta! Why don't we stay here until our pouchlings are all grown up?"

"G'Kar, I think _you_ need to grow up!" Lyta scolded him, "You know we can't stay here. I have to return in a few months' time to fulfill my promise to Mr. Garibaldi. Have you forgotten about him while you've been playing Pouch-Daddy?"

" _Playing Pouch-Daddy!_ " G'Kar retorted furiously, "Why, Lyta Alexander! I haven't been playing, I assure you. It is hard work carrying these pouchlings around everywhere I go and nursing them every day. And no, I haven't forgotten about poor Mr. Garibaldi. He's my friend, too! I once risked my life to find him when he went missing...I ended up being caught and tortured by the Centauris because I was searching for him. Yes, you must remove the telepathic block which was ruthlessly inserted into his mind by that dreadful Psi Corps man, Mr. Bester. I am only too well aware of that, but...Lyta, we have a responsibility to our children as well!"

"G'Kar," Lyta spoke to him fiercely, "I made a commitment to Byron's cause long before I made a... _commitment_ , if that's what we want to call it, to you and the kids."

Lyta used the word "commitment" with an ironic twist. Healer Tooga and his family had thrown them a "surprise wedding" last week, and had even presented them with a surprise marriage certificate.

"Your pouchlings were born in Roonan space," Tooga had explained, "and, under our law, you two are officially married. Any couple who births children on or around this planet is automatically deemed to be married and must be presented with a marriage certificate within three months. We consider the raising of children to be the most sacred responsibility that a couple can aspire to. As the Healer who witnessed your pouchlings' birth, I am hereby authorized to proclaim you, Lyta, and you, G'Kar, husband and wife—by Roonan Law! You may now join us in an all-night celebration of your joy!"

G'Kar and Lyta had been flabbergasted. They went along with it in order to be polite to their hosts, but they had both proceeded to get very drunk that night. Tooga had reprimanded G'Kar for drinking while he was nursing the pouchlings, but G'Kar argued that the one night of drinking would not harm _his_ hardy Narn pouchlings.

"It is...after all...our wedding night, Tooga," the inebriated Narn told him, "Is it not?"

Tooga allowed him his one night of celebration, but the Healer gave very strict orders that he was not to drink again while pouching the young ones. G'Kar's belly was becoming bigger and bigger, as Na'Tal and Byron grew inside his pouch. Tooga, meanwhile, was trying to make their stay as enjoyable as possible so that they would never want to leave.

"As parents on this world, you are obliged to stay here until your pouchlings are grown," Tooga lectured them, "and by doing so, you can help us to better understand this amazing biological feat of yours. We insist that you stay for at least twenty years, until the pouchlings are formal adults. Anything else that you were involved in before you came here ought to take second place."

Tooga had kept badgering them about staying for the next twenty years, until finally his wife Tillga voiced a strenuous objection.

"Tooga!" she snarled at him one day as he cajoled the couple with his plans for them, "Lyta and G'Kar are a free couple! They have other duties back on their home-worlds, I am sure. Shame on you for pressuring them to stay here! Your reasons for wanting them to stay are self-serving. You only want to study their children so that you can present your great research to the University and be rewarded for it."

Tooga had been apologetic before his wife, but the moment she was out of hearing range, the eager Healer would begin a "guilt assault" on the oddly-matched pair.

"G'Kar and Lyta!" He confronted them one day, "I understand from your conversations with my wife that both of you are from war-torn worlds...and that you are thinking of going back to your old conflict-ridden area of space. How can you even consider doing such a thing to your own children when Roona offers you a haven of peace and safety in which to raise them?"

Lyta had been just about ready to strangle Tooga, and so G'Kar stepped in and used his diplomatic talents.

"We can't stay here forever, Tooga," he countered, "as much as we would like to do so. But you see, we have our responsibilities back home. Lyta must lead her people to freedom, and I must serve the Interstellar Alliance...an outstanding political organization, by the way, that the people of Roona are most welcome to join. We could help to provide protection for your unblemished planet...but I digress, Healer Tooga. We do thank you for all your many gifts and acts of hospitality, but we do not wish to ' _wear out our welcome'_ as the Humans say. I'm sure your wife and other family members must be getting quite sick and tired of us...we can be the most annoying of guests. But please, don't fret about our imminent departure. We will always think of your delightful family and your wonderful people as our friends. We even consider you a friend, in spite of your crafty determination to use our little brood to increase your stature amongst your colleagues. Nonetheless, you have been more than kind to us, and we are grateful."

Tooga had hung his head in guilt when he heard G'Kar's comment about his plan to increase his stature amongst his colleagues.

"G'Kar," Tooga pleaded, "You know it's about more than just my status with my colleagues. Tillga and I honestly think of you as _our own_ family members. We don't want to hear one day that you and your children have been killed in some senseless conflict."

"Conflict is inevitable, Tooga," G'Kar preached to him sadly, "And we cannot avoid it. Your people are indeed fortunate to have evaded it for so long...you might want to think about my proposal that your people join our Interstellar Alliance."

"We aren't simply fortunate," Tooga replied fiercely, "We have made our own fortunes. We have worked hard to develop a consciousness which favors peace as opposed to war. And we have done all we can to hide and protect ourselves from those who would do us harm. Thank you for your offer of protection from the Alliance, but we have never formed alliances with people who participate in armed conflicts. We do, however, extend love and friendship to those who respect us...and you and your dear wife Lyta have certainly done that. We would miss both of you so much if you decided to leave! Couldn't you stay just a little longer...to give the pouchlings time to grow stronger for the journey? If you did that, I might even be able to arrange for you to speak with some of Roona's finest leaders, G'Kar—I can't promise that they would agree to join your Interstellar Alliance, but you could at least talk to them about the possibility. If you leave, you lose your opportunity to influence them in that direction."

G'Kar appeared to be considering Tooga's invitation to stay "a little longer", for the sake of the pouchlings...and the possibility of snagging another member-world for his precious Alliance. Lyta looked at the two of them and sighed. She could see that, in addition to his political wiliness, the Narn's hormone-induced "nurturing side" was continuing to influence his behavior. She noted that he was wearing his red robe, and recalled that the equally wily Tooga had given G'Kar this brilliant scarlet robe to wear at their infamous "wedding" party. G'Kar had been fretting at the time that he "didn't have a thing to wear", and so Tooga had given him his best robe for the occasion. The Simian knew that G'Kar was very taken with fine robes lately, and had cleverly won him over for that particular event. In fact, the two males were quite adept at lavishing each other with fine gifts, words and arguments in an attempt to convince the other. Tooga kept attempting to entice G'Kar into staying longer, and G'Kar would constantly try to persuade Tooga to talk his world's leaders into joining President John Sheridan's Interstellar Alliance. His nurturing instincts had certainly not blunted the former diplomat's political guile, Lyta noticed ruefully.

"Perhaps," G'Kar finally conceded, "We could stay just a little longer. Would that be possible, my dear wife Lyta?"

Lyta grimaced at him as Tooga finally left the couple to discuss the issue in private.

"G'Kar," Lyta grumbled, "What the hell are you doing—playing 'dear committed husband' to impress Tooga? This so-called 'marriage' of ours is just a crock of shit! We weren't even asked if we _wanted_ to marry; they just went ahead and married us whether we chose it or not. You aren't the monogamous sort, Buddy, and you know it. The first year that we were traveling together, you took as many opportunities as you could to have sex with just about every species of female in the galaxy. That's why I was so pissed off that you hadn't even tried to make a pass at me, _Mr. Abstinence._ How would you like it if I told Tooga about all that?"

"I'm sorry, Lyta," he apologized to her, "It was just that I needed to get my sexual energy out somehow, especially since I was traveling alone with you. But the truth is that I am in love with you, Lyta Alexander, whether you and I like it or not. I could abstain from having sexual relations with every single woman in the Universe except for you right now, if you told me that you wanted to stay here on Roona with me and raise our pouchlings in this peaceful and safe environment."

Lyta felt as though she wanted to scream, but G'Kar held out his hand.

"Come with me," he said, putting his hand in hers and leading her up his favorite mountain trail, "Let's hike up to the stream, just you, me, and the two little Alexanders in my pouch."

"Maybe I should start calling you 'Mr. G'Kar Alexander', since you like using my last name so much."

G'Kar chuckled at Lyta's comment, walking with her up the mountainous terrain that reminded him so much of the G'Quan Mountains back on Narn—except of course, the Roon Mountains were much greener and more biologically diverse, not having been treated to the Centauris' resource-stripping war policies. On Roona, the grasses were green and golden, interspersed with a variety of exotic evergreens. They stopped under one such tree to survey the natural beauty.

"You know," Lyta murmured, "This planet would be just perfect as a home-world for the telepaths...if these ape-people weren't already living here..."

"Don't go down that road, Lyta," G'Kar warned her softly, "I saw my world slowly decimated during the Centauri Occupation when I was a child; and later, while I served the Narn Regime as a soldier, I perpetrated the kind of atrocities that you're thinking about on other worlds, other peoples. I know from experience that it damages the souls of everyone concerned...besides destroying the natural soul of the planet."

"Are you a telepath, now, G'Kar?" she asked him, "That you know what I'm thinking before I even say it?"

G'Kar remained silent, but she knew that he was right. It was very tempting to consider invading a planet like this, which had such a peaceful and yet weak group of people living on it. She thought of the pacifism that her lost love Byron had taught to her and his other followers; and she immediately felt ashamed of herself for even having thought about taking this beautiful planet by force.

G'Kar let go of her hand and walked ahead. Lyta followed him slowly. When they arrived at the clear, blue mountain stream, he threw off the red robe that Tooga had given him. He sat down on a large rock by the running water, and gestured for her to sit beside him. Lyta smiled at him in a sly manner, throwing all of her clothes off as well. She sat down and leaned against him.

"You want to go skinny-dipping in this little river, Babe?" Lyta teased him, "You know the water will be too freezing cold for my sweet and sensitive Human ass."

G'Kar reached out and embraced her, holding her close to him.

"Just sit with me here," he told her softly, "and feel the heartbeats of our pouchlings as they sleep within my pouch."

Lyta complied, resting her head on his leathery shoulder.

"G'Kar," she whispered to him, "You know as well as I do that this fine little Roona Honeymoon of ours is going to end once we get back to the home galaxy. I have an obligation to lead my people in the coming fight against the Psi Corps. I can't keep traipsing around the stars with you doing this soul-healing thing forever. And you are going to have to be the primary parent—you are going to have to raise Na'Tal and Byron. I will try my best to be involved in their lives, but you can't expect me to do what your first wife did for you. You told me that you ran off and left her to raise all your pouchlings while you fought in the Resistance against the Centauris. This time, it's different. Your revolutionary days have come and gone...you're in your sixties now, and you're re-thinking your whole life. You're more priest than warrior—isn't that what you told your friend Ta'Lon when you left? And now, I'm the young warrior. I don't have the same wisdom that you do, G'Kar...you know it has to be you."

"I know," G'Kar murmured, "I know how the wheel turns, Lyta. But just hold me for awhile, and feel their hearts. This is what my First Mate told me before I would go running off to fight in yet another battle...and sleep with countless other women in between. I have always done the same thing in all of my intimate relationships...after I pouched the children, I would hand them over to my mate or to my latest lover and I would leave. But now...you're right, Lyta. I am fast becoming an old man. I have gone from ruthless to toothless in eight short years."

"Oh, you haven't lost your teeth yet, Old Man," Lyta reassured him, "I have dozens of your bloody love-bites on my body to prove it."

"Will you sleep with other males in between your battles, Lyta?" he asked softly.

"Maybe," she replied, "If I have the time."

Their wistful musings about battles past and future were interrupted as a small head poked its way out of G'Kar's pouch.

"It is Na'Tal!" he cried, as the little, spotted Narn-Human gave a rasping shriek. She had begun to sprout the same fiery red hair as her mother, and she had the scarlet eyes of her father. G'Kar handed her to Lyta to hold as her twin brother Byron followed her out into the world.

"Byron," he said to the little boy, whose hair and eyes were also red but whose Narn facial features were more pronounced than those of his sister, "And Na'Tal. Welcome to our Universe."


	5. Dinner at Garibaldi's

11

 _ **Chapter Five: Dinner at Garibaldi's**_

The compact Explorer craft _Na'Toth_ had been traveling for months. And now, here they were...back in their home galaxy, on their way to Michael Garibaldi's new home-world of Mars.

Their journey home had been quite uneventful, other than chasing the pouchlings around the ship. Narn infants, unlike Human ones of the same age, had a capacity to climb all over everything like tiny monkeys. Their claws helped them to grip whatever it was that they happened to be climbing—a chair, a table, or someone's leg. Na'Tal and Byron both possessed the Narn infant's climbing talents. They were now six months old and already they were boldly tearing up the ship. They still slept in G'Kar's pouch, but they were going outside it to explore with greater frequency—and creating mischief wherever they went.

G'Kar had recently caught the twins jumping around on the console in the control room, flicking switches and pressing buttons randomly. Due to the danger involved in this kind of activity, they had barred the kids from the control room. Lyta and G'Kar each took turns minding the young ones while the other monitored the controls of the ship. When they both wanted to spend time with the pouchlings together, they set their course and put the ship on auto-pilot for a short period of time. They were, however, coming back into the inhabited section of space and could no longer coast on auto-pilot for long periods of time as they had done beyond The Rim of known space. The computer always alerted them if they were approaching a ship or a planet and needed to get back to the control room.

At present, Lyta wanted to spend as much time with her odd little family as she could, before they were obliged to separate. She was making a pot of tea for the two adults while G'Kar attempted to write a few paragraphs in " _The Book of Lyta and G'Kar"_ before the pouchlings returned to scamper all over his papers and send them flying.

"Aren't you finished that damn book yet, G'Kar?" she asked him, pouring hot water into the tea-pot and pressing the tea-bags to the side of it so the tea would steep more quickly, "I want to read it before you and I say good-bye."

G'Kar regarded her fondly, but with great sadness as well.

"I could stay with you for a while longer," he told her, "I know something about leading Revolutions. Perhaps I could help you with yours, Lyta."

"No," Lyta countered firmly, "This is not your fight, Babe...you need to go and serve your Alliance with good ol' Johnny Sheridan and his wife Delenn. That's where your heart is."

"My heart is here with you and the children at present," G'Kar told her, "and why, ever since I first began my pouch-duties, do you keep referring to me as 'Babe'? Do you see me as an infantile person?"

"No, it's just a term of endearment," Lyta explained, "You know that I respect your wise words and insights. I'm serious about what I said, though, G'Kar. I don't want you becoming involved in the Telepath Resistance against the Psi Corps. You're quite capable of getting yourself into your own mischief, for one thing; and for another, I don't want Na'Tal and Byron to fall prey to the Psi Corps. I've picked up some primitive thought transmissions, and I have begun to suspect that both of them are telepaths."

"By G'Quan!" G'Kar exclaimed, using the name of the Narn holy prophet to express his shock, "What are we to do, Lyta? How can I guide them adequately, as a non-telepath? I cannot raise such pouchlings all alone!"

"G'Kar, you're going to have to go to Minbar and ask Delenn if she knows of any Minbari telepaths who could help you. You and the kids cannot stay with me...it's too dangerous. The Corps will kidnap them, and use them for their own warped purposes. The other possibility is that you could bring them to Narn. I've supplied your people with telepath DNA, and you will soon be breeding many of your own telepaths."

"I know I am being hypocritical," G'Kar admitted, "But I am somewhat wary of bringing my children to Narn, as much as I wanted to create telepaths amongst my people. I am afraid, however, that my people might want to use our children in a similar fashion to the Psi Corps."

"If your people are successful in breeding telepaths, G'Kar," Lyta warned him, "You're all going to have some pretty big decisions to make. Are you going to go down the same path as Earth did and create your own version of the Psi Corps? Or, will you create something that is more just and fair? The answers your people give to these questions will determine whether or not Narn telepaths like Na'Tal and Byron will have any future at all on Narn."

G'Kar put his head in his hands.

"Oh, this was what I was afraid of," he groaned, "We may collectively be creating a monster if we are not careful. But for now, I suppose I will have to take the children to Minbar as you suggest. I need to meet with Sheridan and Delenn anyways to let them know that I have returned and am ready to serve the Alliance once more."

Na'Tal jumped on G'Kar's large head and screeched at him impatiently.

"Do you have another bottle of your stored breast milk, Lyta?" G'Kar asked, "I'm afraid my pouch-milk has run dry."

Lyta opened the cryogenic freezer unit and brought out one bottle from among hundreds. She put it in a special milk defroster as Na'Tal wailed, sounding more like a Human baby than a Narn.

"Come, my dear Treasure," G'Kar spoke to her softly, lifting her onto his chest to nuzzle against him.

Byron jumped on Lyta's shoulder and began to chirp merrily at the prospect of receiving his mother's breast milk. Lyta took a second bottle out of the freezer while she was waiting for the first bottle to defrost.

As they neared Mars, Lyta sent out a transmission to Garibaldi and his wife, Lise Hampton. After the children had been fed, G'Kar put them in a sealed playpen and brought it into the control room so they could both pilot the ship and supervise their young safely.

It wasn't long before they received a return transmission from Michael Garibaldi, the former Security Chief of Babylon 5 and now the head of Edgars Industries, which he ran with his wife, Lise Hampton. Garibaldi's familiar face appeared on the viewing screen.

"Hey, Love-Birds!" he called out by way of greeting, "You shocked the shit out of me and Lise when we found out about you two and your little bundles of joy. I'll have my man meet you at the docking facilities, and he'll bring you over right smartly to our lovely abode—all courtesy of Edgars Industries. We'll talk more then."

"It will be good to see you, Mr. Garibaldi," G'Kar replied, "I never thought we'd meet again after you became a fabulously wealthy man."

"All you ever have to do is buzz me, G'Kar, and I'll be there," Garibaldi told him, "We're still friends, for crying out loud."

"Indeed we are, Mr. Garibaldi," G'Kar responded gently as Garibaldi's image faded. He seemed to be pleased by Garibaldi's re-affirmation of their friendship.

The _Na'Toth_ proceeded to the Martian Docking Bay. It was a busy day today, and they were obliged to wait their turn before docking the ship. They watched the two pouchlings play in the pen together.

"You know I'll miss you, G'Kar, when you and the little tykes leave for Minbar," Lyta said to him sadly, caressing the side of his face with her hand.

G'Kar's expression became pained and sorrowful.

"And you, Lyta," he whispered, running his own hand down her face gently.

"You know that I've grown very fond of you, you old Hotspot," she continued, "and the little guys have managed to work their way into my battered heart as well."

"Are you saying that you love us, Lyta?" G'Kar asked, his voice breaking slightly with emotion.

"I'm not sure I know what love is, Babe," she murmured, "But as much as I am able, I think I love you and the rugrats."

"You see, there you go again, calling me your 'Babe'. The children are your 'Babes'—I am the rug-rat."

Their gentle tete-a-tete was interrupted by a buzz from the Control Centre on Mars.

"Compact Explorer, you're now cleared to dock," sounded a rather mechanical female voice, "Please proceed to Docking Bay 9."

G'Kar piloted the craft through the Docking Bay doors and parked it in the space which had been reserved for them.

When they had piled their luggage and the kids' portable playpen onto a hover-dolly, they exited the craft and went to the Main Gallery, with Na'Tal riding in G'Kar's pouch, her head and arms protruding out of it like a little Earth kangaroo. Lyta had put Byron into a make-shift pouch which she wore strapped to her front. When the couple came through the Arrivals Gate, a man with a grey beard approached them.

"The name's Sorrell," he said to them, extending his hand to Lyta and then G'Kar, "I work for Garibaldi. You are Lyta and G'Kar, I presume?"

They nodded, and Sorrell brought them to his waiting hover-craft before whisking them off to his employer's home.

The red, dusty plains of Mars were a little less red in appearance once they were being observed from the surface. The craft hummed neatly over craters and mines until finally it came to the Parking Bay of Garibaldi and Lise's large Martian mansion. The craft went through before the automatic doors shut.

When the passengers disembarked, Michael Garibaldi was standing there waiting for them, a cigar in his hand. He led them into the large house, where they shook hands with his wife Lise before being shown to the guest bedroom—a large room with one Queen-size bed and two cribs beside it.

"You can borrow ours for now," Garibaldi told them, gesturing towards the cribs, "We really only need one of them, and we won't need it for another eight months or so."

G'Kar looked at his friend in astonishment.

"You and your wife are..." he spluttered in surprise, "expecting a pouchling?"

"No, not a pouchling, you nutty Narn," Garibaldi corrected him, "Humans don't have pouches, remember? Anyways, it looks like you two have beaten us to it. Damn! You'll have to give us some pointers."

Lyta congratulated Lise politely as Lise gave her a hug in return.

"Michael's been very worried about you guys," Lise told them, "We're so glad you could come and visit us."

They led the pair into the living room, where they assembled the playpen and deposited Na'Tal and Byron into it. Neither of them wanted the kids breaking any of the expensive vases or priceless works of art that adorned the Garibaldi-Hampton home.

"I'm terrified to move inside your magnificent house, Ms. Hampton," G'Kar commented nervously, "I keep thinking I'll be clumsy and break something."

"Please don't worry, G'Kar," she reassured him, "I just want you and Lyta to relax. You've had a long journey. And—call me Lise, by the way."

"Yes, Lise," G'Kar responded obediently, looking at the huge transparent windows which displayed the dusty Martian landscape in all its barren beauty.

Lyta felt G'Kar's discomfort. This was the first time that he had ever visited a Human couples' home, and it was somewhat awkward. Lyta herself felt out of her element; while she was growing up in the Psi Corps, she had not had many opportunities to visit ordinary people in their homes, and this one felt more alien to her than Tooga and Tillga's rock-mountain home on Roona did.

G'Kar soon overcame his own awkwardness by engaging Lise in conversation, using his well-honed diplomatic manners to charm her. They chatted about mundane topics such as shopping for curtains and the Martian weather.

Lyta and Garibaldi, meanwhile, stared at each other, as if agreeing to put off some very important business...for now.

"Michael, put out that cigar," Lise ordered him as G'Kar began to cough, "It's stinking up the place. G'Kar's too polite to say so, but I know Narns have sensitive noses...the smoke is bothering him."

Garibaldi obeyed his wife without comment, as if happily resigned to being second-in-command in the Hampton-Garibaldi household. Lise went into the kitchen to check on the dinner that she had prepared for the guests. G'Kar followed her, offering his culinary talents. Before long, G'Kar was chopping onions while Lise made a big salad. The two of them were talking up a storm as they worked together.

Garibaldi stared off into space, and Lyta sat looking absently out the window, her eyes glazed over.

"So," Garibaldi said.

"Yeah," Lyta replied.

"The two Better Halves are sure hitting it off."

"Uh-huh."

They were silent for a few more moments until Garibaldi decided that he was ready to abandon idle chit-chat.

"Damn it, Lyta!" He finally exploded, "Are you going to take this mind-block out of my head, or what? I've been as good as my word, and I've helped to finance your fledgling Resistance. You're planning on honoring your part of the deal, I hope?"

"Of course, Mr. Garibaldi," she said to him, without much emotion in her voice, "I said I would do that for you, and I will. But I want to wait until after G'Kar and the kids are safely spirited off to Minbar. I don't want them involved in any part of this thing. I'm going to be meeting with the other Resistance Leaders, and we _are_ going to bring down the Psi Corps, eventually."

"So you're packin' the family off to Minbar, huh?" he replied, "I guess it makes sense. The little guys can play with Delenn and Sheridan's kid...David, they call him. Hey, they'll all be half-and-halfers. It should work, but what about G'Kar? Is he going to be content to shuffle around in some Minbari convent, taking the kids to their Judo lessons, or whatever martial arts they teach over there?"

"He'll do what he has to do," Lyta retorted, "I'm sure he's more than capable of finding a Minbari telepath to help him to train the kids and take over their care whenever he's off on a mission for the Alliance. But other than that, I've told him he's the main parent, and that's that. The kids will be his full responsibility until the Resistance is over and Psi Corps is a dead organization. If I survive whatever showdown is coming between the rogues and the Corps, then I'll see G'Kar about my visitation rights with Na'Tal and Byron...but not until it's all over and I can be sure that the Corps will never harm them."

"Hmm..." Garibaldi said, after a moment or two of silence, "G'Kar and a Minbari telepath, huh? I wonder what his next batch of pouchlings will look like—half Minbari and half Narn? Man, that guy's so busy he must never sleep."

"Very funny, Garibaldi," Lyta replied dryly.

As she looked at him, she began to inadvertently pick up an impression from his thoughts. He averted his eyes, staring down at his feet. It was as if he was debating whether or not to tell her something. Lyta was not trying to scan his mind, but she picked up the image of a female Narn traveling to Mars...to see G'Kar. She peered into his mind as discreetly as she dared, and realized from Garibaldi's visual memories that it was G'Kar's former aide, Na'Toth, who was due to arrive on Mars any day now.

"I hate it when you folks do that," Garibaldi grumbled, and she knew that he was aware of her quick-scan of his mind.

"I'm sorry, Garibaldi," Lyta apologized, "But I need to know what's happening if it affects my kids."

"You're dumping them on G'Kar," Garibaldi replied irritably, "So what's it to you if they go to Narn instead of Minbar? They are partly Narn, after all."

"I am not _dumping_ them on G'Kar, Garibaldi!" Lyta snarled angrily, "He is their father, and he's in a better position to take them than I am right now. He was the one who said he didn't want them going to Narn...and I said I didn't want them here because of the Corps. I'll be leading this Resistance mainly so that Na'Tal and Byron and other young telepaths can finally be free in the Universe...so don't you _dare_ try to tell me that I'm dumping my kids on anyone!"

"Okay, okay," Garibaldi conceded, "It's just that Na'Toth has been worried about G'Kar, and she wants to tell him something important. I don't know what it's about, but I imagine that when she sees that you and he have had kids together, she'll want him to bring them back to Narn...you know how they're itching to create their own telepaths. I told G'Kar once that I thought they should count their lucky stars that they didn't have teeps and leave it at that...but you know the Narns."

"Yeah, Garibaldi," Lyta retorted sardonically, "I know the Narns...in fact, I'm married to one, and my kids are Narn."

"Married?" echoed Garibaldi, "Man, you guys have got in even deeper than I thought."

"It's a long story," Lyta said wearily, "and I don't want to tell it right now. I think that after supper, I'll be ready for bed."

They did not speak of it any further that evening. They sat down at the table while Lise and G'Kar served the meal.

"Tomorrow night, Michael, you cook," Lise told him.

"And perhaps Lyta can help," G'Kar suggested.

"We may not be able to stay quite that long, G'Kar," Lyta replied, "I want you and the pouchlings out of here as soon as possible. I should have taken a shuttle to Mars and have sent you on to Minbar."

G'Kar appeared puzzled, but did not push Lyta to explain. They ate the delicious meal hungrily, without conversation.

After the meal, Lyta excused herself so that she could go to bed early and get some sleep. G'Kar followed soon after, putting the pouchlings to bed while singing them a haunting Narn lullaby.


	6. The Return of Na'Toth

11

 _ **Chapter Six: The Return of Na'Toth**_

It was after breakfast when they received a transmission from Na'Toth, telling them that she was about to dock her shuttle on Mars. Garibaldi hastily sent Sorrell out to meet her and bring her back to the house.

"Na'Toth!" G'Kar exclaimed, "Here on Mars?"

"Yeah," Garibaldi admitted, "I received a transmission from her a week ago. She seemed eager to find you."

"Mr. Garibaldi, why didn't you tell me earlier?" G'Kar asked.

"I didn't want to stir things up between you and Lyta," Garibaldi replied sheepishly, "and I wasn't sure if maybe this might disrupt your plans to bring the kids to Minbar...where they'll probably be safer."

"Yes, but Mr. Garibaldi, I fully trust Na'Toth. She would not do anything that would endanger my pouchlings...surely you know that?"

"I would have liked to have known, too, Michael," Lise scolded her husband, "as I'm sure Lyta would have. That suspicious mind of yours is a pain in the ass."

"Well—anyways, you all know now," Garibaldi muttered in embarrassment.

It was not long before the door opened and Sorrell announced the arrival of two guests.

"Ms. Na'Toth to see you, Sir," he said as Na'Toth entered the home warily, holding a two-year-old Narn boy, "and her son, G'Toth."

G'Kar stared in astonishment at Na'Toth and the boy.

"Well, G'Kar!" Na'Toth upbraided him impatiently, "Aren't you at least going to greet your son?"

"My...my son?" G'Kar echoed lamely, walking over to the mother and child and embracing both of them.

"Another one?" Garibaldi exclaimed, "Man, G'Kar! You are one busy boy!"

"Yes, he certainly has been, Mr. Garibaldi," Na'Toth replied wryly, "And my son can't belong to any other male, G'Kar, as I have had sex with no one else but you since you rescued me from my Centauri prison two and a half years ago. The first and only time that I have had sex with you, and you impregnate me!"

"Na'Toth, why didn't you tell me sooner?" G'Kar asked, "I would have come to Narn and joined you."

"I wasn't ready for you to join me," Na'Toth replied, running her hand down the side of his face, "My brother's family has needed me since I returned to Narn, as the attack on our home-world injured or killed many in our brood. They have been helping me to raise G'Toth, and I have been helping to care for our injured and sick family members. They have finally healed and have regained their dignity by becoming more independent; and so I have been freed to come and seek you out."

Na'Toth's military uniform was now gone, and in its place, the Narn female wore black pants with a long grey tunic on top. She put the youngster down, and he stared at the strange people in front of him. G'Toth did not scream or run away, but neither did he venture very far from his mother.

G'Kar knelt, holding out his hand to the boy.

"G'Toth," he murmured softly, "My boy. Did you know that you have a brother and sister?"

G'Kar looked up at Na'Toth as he said it.

"I know about the pouchlings that you had with Lyta," Na'Toth said quietly, "I stopped by Babylon 5 on my way here and Ambassador Ta'Lon told me."

"Ah, Ta'Lon," G'Kar replied, "Yes, I sent him a message about the pouchlings because I was unsure about whether I should bring them back to Narn. I told him to tell only those whom I could trust with my life."

"G'Kar, there is a problem," Na'Toth told him, stopping for a moment to regard the Humans. Na'Tal chose that moment to come out of her father's pouch and say hello to G'Toth. G'Toth sniffed her curiously, while Lise beckoned to Na'Toth to come in and make herself comfortable.

"Whatever it is, Na'Toth, you can tell these people," G'Kar said, "I trust them with my life, also."

Na'Toth sat down at the dining room table cautiously.

"I would appreciate it if you could bring the young one something to eat," she murmured to Lise, somewhat awkwardly, "He will eat any vegetable, or animal meat."

"Of course," Lise replied, turning to go into the kitchen. After she had begun to busy herself with preparing a snack for G'Toth, Na'Toth relaxed somewhat and spoke.

"It is this telepath DNA that Lyta supplied us with," Na'Toth whispered, "All of it has been destroyed. We suspect a couple of Humans who recently visited Narn, ostensibly on a mission of mercy to help those impoverished by the Centauri attack. My father believes that they are connected with the Earth telepath organization, the Psi Corps. We have sent word to both Earth and Mars asking the governments of those worlds to help us capture these guilty people, but so far they have not been of much help."

"And are you on some covert operation, Na'Toth, to hunt down these bastards?" Lyta asked angrily, "Because if you are, I'll help you roast them alive. I sold that DNA to your people so that they could create their own telepaths. I promised G'Kar, and now those fools have shamed me and my promise."

"I would very much like to have been involved in the operation to capture them, but I am no longer connected with the military," Na'Toth admitted sadly, "Once I reported that I was pregnant, I was no longer permitted to serve. Now that I have been out of service for the past four years or so, they feel that I should concentrate on my family and my son. I had been considering the prospect of working with G'Kar in some capacity, for the Interstellar Alliance...but when I heard that G'Kar and you had..."

Na'Toth's voice trailed off, as if her last hope had faded away.

"No, Na'Toth," Lyta told her, "You don't understand. G'Kar and I...we did _not_ plan to have those kids. I suspect that the Vorlons surreptitiously altered my reproductive system in some way during the Shadow War so that I could produce telepaths with any species...although it makes no sense that they would even want to do that. Whatever way it happened, we're not going to stay together as a couple anymore, because I have to lead a Resistance against the Psi Corps now that I'm back. We knew that our relationship was going to end when we returned."

"And you are taking the children?" Na'Toth asked.

"Uh...no," Lyta replied, "G'Kar is taking them. I can't lead a Resistance and raise two telepath pouchlings."

"We were discussing the idea of myself and the children going to Minbar, Na'Toth," G'Kar informed her, "You and G'Toth are most welcome to come with us. I will be meeting with President Sheridan and Delenn, and I can speak to them on your behalf. I'm sure that they will be happy to allow you to serve the Alliance. And I, of course, would be proud and honored to have you re-join me."

Garibaldi had been listening to their conversation quietly.

"Guys," he said with a concerned expression on his face, "I don't mean to be a doom-and-gloomer, but I think that, if the Psi Corps is going around destroying the Narns' telepath DNA samples, we'd better get those two little Narn-Human teeps to Minbar. The Psi Corps won't try to mess around with Minbaris, but there's a possibility that they might try something here on Mars."

"I will protect G'Kar and the children," Na'Toth declared, her warrior energy beginning to re-emerge within her, "You have my word of honor, Lyta."

Lise walked in with a plate of assorted vegetables and roast beef slices for G'Toth.

"I think he'll be having it 'to go'," Garibaldi said to his wife, "These guys have got to get out of here, Lise."

"We will pack up the _Na'Toth_ immediately," G'Kar agreed, "That is the name of our ship, Na'Toth...it is named after you."

"I am honored," Na'Toth told him, as G'Toth hungrily wolfed down the roast beef, "But we should hurry."

"Lyta, you go with them," Garibaldi ordered her urgently, "They may try to come after you, since you've been traipsing around with G'Kar. It's possible that they think that you and him are in cahoots and have some master plan to breed thousands of Narn telepaths...which I guess you sorta do."

"We don't have a plan to do that, I was just selling G'Kar the DNA in exchange for five ships and a bit of financing."

"You're great at making deals, Lyta..." Garibaldi said, touching his head.

"I'll get that block out, Garibaldi, don't worry."

"Now _why_ would I be worrying?" Garibaldi muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Lyta put off arguing with Garibaldi for the time being, as the priority was to get G'Kar, Na'Toth, and the kids out of the line of fire. She could always shuttle back under disguise and meet with the Resistance leaders in secret, and in a more neutral location. Many of them would be hiding off-world anyways.

G'Kar, meanwhile, was packing everything up at lightning speed and putting it back inside the _Na'Toth,_ which had been shuttled into Garibaldi's personal Parking Bay by Sorrell. When he was finished, G'Kar put Na'Tal in his pouch and Bryon in the make-shift pouch that Lyta had been wearing. He strapped Byron to his chest, while Na'Tal surveyed everything from her perch in his pouch like a grand little Queen.

"I guess I'll go with you, Babe, just to make sure you and the kids get settled on Minbar," Lyta said to G'Kar.

"I won't object to having two beautiful traveling companions," G'Kar responded gratefully.

Lise hugged each and every one of them before they left, but Garibaldi was too anxious for niceties.

"Come on, let's go!" He ordered them, "You can send us a transmission when you're safely underway to Minbar."

Garibaldi escorted them out into the Parking Bay, where Sorrell was standing guard. Without warning, Sorrell reached into a nearby bag and brought out a big laser rifle.

"Nobody move," he commanded them roughly, "Do what I tell you and you won't get hurt."

" _Sorrell, what the hell is this, you fraggin' son-of-a-bitch?"_ Garibaldi yelled.

Lise began to open the door, but Garibaldi slammed it shut, locking it so that she couldn't come out into the Parking Bay with them.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Garibaldi," the traitorous employee apologized in an insincere tone, "but I'm afraid that I can't let Ms. Alexander help the Narns to create an army of hybrid telepaths. The Narns are just a little too savage for my liking, and I don't believe that they deserve the privilege of having their own telepaths. I had family members living on one of the Centauri worlds that they conquered long ago, and they were not kind to them..."

"Damn!" Garibaldi swore, "Sorrell, I gave you a job when you were down and out. Don't you put a knife in my back! I had someone else under my command do that, and I am not gonna be kind to you either if you don't put away that rifle. I swear, you are really going to hate the savage things that _I'm_ gonna do to you..."

"You're not in a position to issue threats, Mr. Garibaldi," Sorrell warned him, "I'm the one with the gun, remember...this is what you get for being friends with a bunch of Narns."

"I'm not friends with a bunch of Narns, I'm the friend of one Narn—and he's got a hell of a lot more honor than you do. Who are you working for, Sorrell—the Psi Corps?"

"Psi Corps?" Sorrell chuckled, "Not on your life. I 'm a rogue telepath, working with a group of like-minded telepaths who really don't _like_ the idea of aliens mating with Humans...especially telepathic Humans. You mundanes can screw all the snake-heads you like, but telepaths should be above such vile alliances. Lyta, we are very disappointed in you...creating two freaks with a spotted hyena like G'Kar! You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope you're not still expecting to take over the leadership of the Rogue Resistance? Not if we have anything to say about it, you won't."

"So this is what it's about...a squabble over who gets to be the Leader of the Resistance?" Lyta growled, her ire rising.

She knew that she was hundreds of times more powerful as a telepath than Sorrell could ever dream of being. He was blocking her at the moment, but the fool obviously did not know that she could destroy him at any moment using only her mind. That, however, would create a division between the various factions of rogue telepaths that she hoped to lead against the Psi Corps. She decided to try negotiation first.

"Listen," Lyta said to him, "Sorrell. This is about me, not my friends or my kids. So, how about you let the Narns and the kids go, along with Garibaldi, and I'll accompany you back to your people so that I can meet with you all and explain my actions. I know we can work something out. I _am_ going to be taking over as Resistance Leader, but I want to work with _all_ the factions. We're going to need you all if we are going to bring down the Psi Corps. I realize that, while I've been away, the factions have appointed their own leaders, but we will need to create a coalition. Come on, Sorrell, make the wise choice. We're all on the same side!"

"Sorry, _Babe,"_ Sorrell sneered, "You're on the side of the Narns, and you've made that obvious by selling _Human telepath_ DNA to those rotten reptiles."

"You were the one to destroy all the samples," Na'Toth growled at him.

"Not me—a couple of operatives working for me did that," Sorrell explained, "Now listen to me, all of you. I will let you go, no questions asked—but I want you to give me the two half-breeds. We won't hurt them. All we want to do is to perform a little humane research on them."

"NO!" Cried G'Kar, "Mr. Sorrell, you don't want to terrorize children. If you are after revenge, then take me and do with me what you will. I am the one who was involved in attacking the Centauri colony worlds, before I repented of such barbarism. You can have me, if you let the children and the others go. I will come with you right now if you agree...I give you my word of honor as a Narn."

"The _word of honor_ from a Narn means absolutely nothing," Sorrell snarled, "Sorry, G'Kar...I don't deal with snakes that plan sneak attacks on civilian populations, like you did at Ragesh 3. You people are nothing but animals and cowards, and I won't have _any_ Human telepath's DNA sullied by joining with that of a Narn...even Lyta's."

"Sorrell, I learned my lesson after Ragesh 3," G'Kar countered, "and it was a Human, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, who taught it to me. Since then, I have learned many lessons in how to behave honorably, just as you will. I warn you, I will not stand by and let my children be kidnapped and tormented."

"As if the Narns never engaged in that kind of behavior!" Sorrell replied with venomous hatred, "No, I think my taking your kids is just what you deserve, G'Kar."

"But _they_ do not deserve it!" G'Kar shouted angrily, "They are only children, and you will be engaging in the same kind of cowardice that you accuse us of showing if you take them from us!"

Lyta had endured enough from this lousy pig, Sorrell. She had hoped that he would listen to reason, but she knew now that he would have to be treated to a lesson in respect for her power.

"All right, Sorrell!" Lyta called out.

"Aha," Sorrell smirked knowingly, "I didn't think you gave a shit about your own kids, Lyta. Put them in one of these crafts—I'm commandeering it in the name of Human-telepath purity."

"Unfortunately, you aren't one of those who are pure, Sorrell," Lyta told him imperiously, "and if you don't stand down immediately, you are going to die; because I am going to kill you just as surely as a Narn Dust-Snake devours its prey."

"Listen, sister," Sorrell hissed in fury, "I have the gun here, and some heads are going to roll if..."

Lyta stared at him menacingly, and suddenly his ability to speak became compromised. He began to gag and cough, as though his breathing were being slowly cut off. He aimed the rifle at Lyta in desperation, but it would not fire.

"Grab the rifle, Garibaldi!" Lyta commanded.

Garibaldi obeyed in a flash. He aimed it at Sorrell's head, while Na'Toth joined him by unsheathing her claws and tapping one sharp talon against the would-be kidnapper's throat.

"Now you listen carefully, Sorrell," Lyta said to him, approaching him slowly, "In addition to Garibaldi blowing your brains out and Na'Toth ripping out your traitorous little throat, I can cut off your breathing in a nano-second. I can cause your heart to stop beating in less than a second. I can pop a blood vessel in your brain...the list of ways that I could kill you goes on and on. I worked for the Vorlons, _brother,_ and I am more powerful than you and all of your sad little accomplices put together. I _will_ be leading the Resistance, and I _will_ lead it to victory against the Psi Corps. You can be there for that victory, or you can be dead—it's your choice. Oh, and I've felt the presence of your little band of merry jackasses, and they will be killed along with you if you try to defy me. Nobody threatens my mate and my kids and gets away with it. Understand?"

Sorrell's face was turning blue, and he nodded to her, stricken with panic.

Slowly, Lyta allowed his breathing to return as he collapsed on his knees to the floor.


	7. Towards Minbar

10

 _ **Chapter Seven: Towards Minbar**_

Lyta sent the transmission back to Garibaldi and Lise, letting them know that they were safely underway to Minbar. Once she had secured G'Kar's and the kids' safety, she would need to return to Mars fairly quickly. She knew that she needed to honor her promise to take the Psi-Corps-induced mind block out of Garibaldi's head, and she could not afford to delay any longer in meeting the leaders of the various rogue factions. They needed to be brought together before any unsavory elements like Sorrell began to poison their thinking.

Na'Toth regarded her as she finished sending her message.

"At first, I wondered at G'Kar's sanity when I heard that he had mated with you and created two Narn-Human pouchlings," she commented, "But now I believe I understand why he wanted you as a lover. If we had the time, I myself would take you as my lover. My respect for you has grown tenfold since we first met at Garibaldi's. You are more ruthless than an entire flotilla of Narn warriors! Sorrell wasn't able to kiss your ass enough after you wiped the floor with him. He received exactly what he deserved! Garibaldi is going to make sure that he and his cowardly band of followers see the inside of a prison, while I have sent word to my father telling him that you have effectively punished the perpetrators for their acts of violence towards Narn."

"I doubt if he'll be trying anything after this," Lyta agreed, her tone victorious, "And I will make arrangements from Minbar to supply your world with more Human telepath DNA to replace that which was lost. But I won't be able to tarry long on Minbar. I'll need to get back to Mars and re-claim my authority amongst the rogue telepaths there, fast and hard."

"If I didn't have the responsibility of caring for my pouchling, I would join you in your just Resistance," Na'Toth said to her, clenching her fist and placing it against her chest in a salute to the Human telepath, "but as it is, I believe my destiny lies with G'Kar and his young. I have taken on a sacred pledge of being the bodyguard of The Prophet and your two pouchlings. We will find an honorable Minbari to train them, and I will oversee their education myself. I vow to you, Lyta, that I will not let anything happen to your children."

Lyta returned the Narn gesture of respect to Na'Toth, clenching her fist against her breast in return.

"When you say 'The Prophet', I assume you mean G'Kar?" Lyta said with a smile.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" agreed Na'Toth, coming dangerously close to uttering a Narn giggle, "After seeing the parade of every species of female in the known Universe enter his bedroom while I was working for him as his attaché, I can only laugh when I see my people prostrating themselves before his image as if he were some kind of god. When we were working together on Babylon 5, there were times when I could have strangled the clown, but unfortunately I came to love him before I could do him any serious harm."

"So are you two going to continue this relationship that you started back on Centauri Prime?"

"I don't know," Na'Toth answered wistfully, "although we'll probably have sex again now that we have done it once. It won't interfere with my duties, though—or his. He is most anxious to begin serving Sheridan and the Alliance again."

"Oh, yeah, that damn Alliance of his," Lyta groaned, "He drove me crazy talking about it all the time...not to mention the Roonans, when we were staying on their world. Before we left, the politicians of Roona agreed to join the Interstellar Alliance, just to get G'Kar to stop talking about it and get his spotted ass out of there."

"He will make them honor their agreement, I have no doubt," chuckled Na'Toth, "But I must say, he does make an excellent pouch-father. I believe I may actually have made the right choice in bringing G'Toth to him. I certainly get more breaks when G'Kar's around than I ever did when I was raising the kid with my entire family helping me."

"Oh, he'll do everything if you let him," Lyta remarked in a conspiratorial fashion.

G'Kar chose that moment to enter the control room with the children.

"Talking about me behind my back, are we, ladies?" he asked in a grandiose tone of voice.

"What makes you think we're talking about you, you egotistical old lizard?" Lyta asked, throwing her hair-band at him.

"The walls have ears, my dears," G'Kar scolded them, "and I am under the distinct impression that my ass has been the topic of your conversation."

"Okay," Lyta admitted, "so maybe it has. Your ass has been the topic of many women's conversations, I'll wager."

G'Kar sat down between Lyta and Na'Toth, placing one arm around each of them.

"Once the children go down for their naps, as I believe they will soon—I have been keeping them busily engaged in vigorous play so that they would tire—the three of us could stop talking and start some action together..."

"Forget it, Lover-Boy," Lyta told him sternly, "I don't do threesomes."

"A great pity," G'Kar murmured wistfully, "I think that between the three of us, we could have increased our endlessly expanding pleasure thresholds beyond Eternity."

"Dream on, you wordy writer," Lyta teased him, "And speaking of writing, G'Kar, you better have a copy of your new book waiting for me to take when I return to Mars."

"I have one right now, my dear Lyta," G'Kar assured her gently, taking a hand-stitched book out of his voluminous red Roonan robe, "and here it is: _The Book of Lyta_ _and G'Kar_. I do hope it meets with your approval."

"G'Kar!" Lyta exclaimed, admiring the painted cover, "I didn't know you were skilled at art-work as well!"

"He isn't," Na'Toth told her, "I illustrated the book for him. He stitched it, since he is better at those kinds of domestic duties than I am. It was a joint effort—I hope you like the result. G'Kar and I have spent the last few days rushing to complete it before we get to Minbar. He wanted to give it to you as a gift to remember him by."

Lyta felt herself close to tears, which she knew would never do. And so, to stem the tide of those embarrassing salt-water eye-pools, she threw her arms around G'Kar and sat in his lap. She rubbed her nose against his before planting a big kiss on his close-to-crocodilian mouth. G'Kar made a rumbling noise as he joined Lyta in the kiss whole-heartedly.

"Ahem," Na'Toth lectured them, "You two need to behave yourselves in front of the children...and I believe we have a transmission coming in from President Sheridan himself. You had better straighten yourself up, G'Kar."

G'Kar pushed Lyta off his lap gently as though she were a cat, giving her a pat on the rear as she stood up. He straightened his robe and sat facing the screen, putting on his best "dignified-returning-explorer" look. The twins jumped up on him, one on either shoulder, just as Sheridan's bearded visage confronted them.

"G'Kar!" the President nearly shouted in joy, "You old dog, you! We just heard the news from Garibaldi. Man, do those kids ever look like you and Lyta! Congratulations to you both."

"Thank you, Mr. President," G'Kar replied respectfully, "I trust that Delenn and your son David are well?"

"They're fantastic, G'Kar, thanks," Sheridan answered, "And call me John, like you did the last time I saw you, before you and Lyta left to go on this big adventure of yours. We're all going to have a little dinner party tonight, and Delenn has told me there'll be no "Mr. President-ing" until we've properly celebrated all these little gaffers that seem to be coming at us left, right, and center—First me and Delenn with our David, then you and your pouchlings, Michael and Lise with their blessed news...and do I understand you also have a little guy with Na'Toth?"

"Uh...yes, that is correct," G'Kar confirmed, his embarrassment evident, "I've...er...been a busy boy, as Garibaldi has no doubt told you."

"Well, anyways, we'll catch up on all the personal stuff later," Sheridan promised, "But on a more serious note, Michael told me about the incident that occurred at his place. Are you all okay?"

"As well as can be expected, Mr...John, I mean," G'Kar stammered, somewhat flummoxed by the invitation to call the President of the Alliance 'John' once again.

"Look, I don't want to know too much about what's going on with Lyta's business," Sheridan told them, "but I just want you to know that she's welcome to come, too, G'Kar...no hard feelings about the last little altercation she and I had."

"Altercation, Mr. President?" Lyta responded coolly, standing behind G'Kar, "I believe that you once pointed a gun to my head, back on Babylon 5...but luckily for both of us, I didn't treat you to the same kind of thing that Sorrell received at Garibaldi's."

"Perhaps, Lyta, we should leave that particular incident in the past," G'Kar whispered to her, "Please, I beg of you."

"Okay, Babe," Lyta said to G'Kar, looking down at him fondly, "I'll be well-behaved, just for you and the kids. I'm sorry, John, but I don't think I'll be able to join you guys for dinner. I need to get back to attend to my...business. I just wanted to make sure that G'Kar and the kids were given a safe-haven on Minbar. Will Delenn be able to arrange that for them? I don't want the Psi Corps getting their hands on Na'Tal and Byron, and G'Kar doesn't feel comfortable taking them to Narn right now. Can they be given a place to stay, along with Na'Toth and her son?"

"Yes, of course," Sheridan informed them, his voice taking on a slightly more professional tone, "Delenn has already arranged it. She tells me that you must really be coming into your power as a mega-mind telepath, Lyta...that you willed your own reproductive system to conceive children with another species..."

"What?" exclaimed Lyta, "It was the Vorlons that did that to me! They must have secretly altered me...without my permission, as always."

Sheridan turned around and shuffled out of the way, allowing his Minbari-Human wife Delenn to speak directly to Lyta.

"Lyta," she said to her earnestly, "You must be careful when you use your powers on those who are weaker than you. The Vorlons did _not_ alter you to cause you to become capable of reproducing with other species...you did that to yourself, although you may not be aware of it right now. You need to understand yourself and your unconscious desires more fully if you are to lead your people out of their slavery to the Psi Corps."

"Are you saying that I had some unconscious desire to have kids with G'Kar?" Lyta asked doubtfully, "Even if that were true, I guess I find it hard to believe that I would alter my own body against my own will. You're saying that I was my own Vorlon?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Delenn concurred, "G'Kar was most fortunate that you felt love for him. If I had known just how powerful you were becoming, I would have warned him against going with you, although I know how much he wanted to help you to heal your rage. I fear, however, that your rage has not healed nearly enough. Mr. Garibaldi told me what you did to this criminal Sorrell...I know he deserved it, and that you did it to protect your family and friends; but there may be other situations which will arise that are not quite so...black-and-white, as John often says. You have felt both the Shadows and the Vorlons within you, and I sense that you have not come to terms with the immense power that has been gifted to you through your experience of them."

"I see," Lyta replied, "and so what do you recommend, Delenn? An extended vacation on Minbar so that I can be examined by your people to determine my threat level?"

"There are people here who could help you, if you will let them," Delenn said to her, "They are not connected with any political organization, including the Alliance. They have more experience than G'Kar does at healing. You do not have to stay here long; you could meet with them, and come back when you have made your decision. If you decide to learn from their wisdom, it does not mean that you must give up your Resistance against the Psi Corps. In fact, it would strengthen your spirit so that you could serve your people in a wiser manner, just as G'Kar has learned to do."

"I'm not going to run around playing bodyguard to Bester the way G'Kar did with Londo Mollari," Lyta told her angrily, "I mean, it was fine for G'Kar, but it won't work for me. I don't intend to forgive my enemies."

"I know," Delenn replied in a cryptic fashion, "This is why I am so concerned. I cannot force you, Lyta, but I do ask you to consider my offer."

Delenn's image faded, and Lyta slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Damn Minbaris!" she growled, "I don't have time to sit around in a circle meditating! I have a revolution to run!"

"It wouldn't hurt to meet with them, Lyta," G'Kar said to her, "After all, these mystics that Delenn is speaking about will no doubt be recommended for our children. Should we not first discover what they are about? Delenn has said you may leave directly after meeting them. You would not have to come back to Minbar...unless you wanted to, in between your most righteous battles. You cannot build a Resistance overnight, Lyta...believe me, I know from experience. You will need to take your time to do it properly, and it would make sense to be in control of your own powers. If it is true that you altered your own body for the purpose of creating children with me and did not realize that you were doing it, what else could you be capable of doing without your own knowledge? Understanding how to use your powers properly, to hone them with discipline, can only give you the advantage in a fight with your enemies!"

"I believe our favorite Clown-Prophet may actually be right, Lyta," Na'Toth opined, "You could use the Minbari knowledge to give you the advantage over those Psi Corps vipers."

Lyta nodded, and looked at G'Kar sadly. He was so determined to have her do what he considered to be "the right thing". She was not sure she knew what that was anymore.

"I'll meet with them," she finally conceded, "But I'm not promising them...or Delenn...anything, G'Kar! I need to get back in order to take that mental block out of Garibaldi's head, and I do need to meet with all the Rogue factions before they tear each other apart. After that, if I have some time, I may come back to Minbar to do some meditating...and to see my kids."

"That's all I ask, dear Lyta," G'Kar said to her, nuzzling against her with the two pouchlings still sitting on his shoulders, "My dear, heart-devouring Dust-Snake Lyta, upon whom I have lavished all the love I am capable of after my own vile snake-heart has bitten the dust."

"That's about all I can give, dear Dust-Snake G'Kar," Lyta answered, as Na'Toth clapped her hands at the three pouchlings, herding them out of the control room so that Lyta and G'Kar could be alone one last time before they arrived on Minbar.


End file.
